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Ahmed Bin Saleh Bel Bacha
| place_of_birth = Algiers, Algeria | date_of_death = | place_of_death = | detained_at = Guantanamo | id_number = 290 | group = | alias = | charge = No charge (extrajudicial detention) | penalty = | status = Still held in Guantanamo although cleared for release in 2007 | occupation = | spouse = | parents = | children = }} Ahmed Bin Saleh Bel Bacha is a citizen of Algeria currently held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba. The Department of Defense reports that he was born on November 13, 1969, in Algiers, Algeria and assigned him the Internment Serial Number 290. Bel Bacha sought asylum in the UK, where he worked at a hotel. In the autumn of 2001, he went to Pakistan for a monthlong vacation. He was seized by villagers in Peshawar who sold him for a bounty offered by the U.S. military and was sent to Guantanamo Bay Prison. In 2007, a panel of military officers determined that he posed no threat to the United States or its allies and cleared Belbacha for release. However, he remains at Guantanamo, unable to return to his homeland from which he fled Islamic militants. As of May 5, 2010, Bel Bacha has been held at Guantanamo for eight years three months. Combatant Status Review Tribunal Initially the Bush administration asserted that they could withhold all the protections of the Geneva Conventions to captives from the war on terror. This policy was challenged before the Judicial branch. Critics argued that the USA could not evade its obligation to conduct a competent tribunals to determine whether captives are, or are not, entitled to the protections of prisoner of war status. Subsequently the Department of Defense instituted the Combatant Status Review Tribunals. The Tribunals, however, were not authorized to determine whether the captives were lawful combatants -- rather they were merely empowered to make a recommendation as to whether the captive had previously been correctly determined to match the Bush administration's definition of an enemy combatant. Summary of Evidence memo A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Ahmed Bin Saleh Bel Bacha's Combatant Status Review Tribunal, on 1 October 2004. The memo listed the following allegations against him: There is no record that Bacha participated in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal. Administrative Review Board hearings | pages=g 1 | author=Spc Timothy Book | date=Friday March 10, 2006 | accessdate=2007-10-10 |archiveurl=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TheWire-v6-i049-10MAR2006.pdf |archivedate=2009-08-26}}]] Detainees who were determined to have been properly classified as "enemy combatants" were scheduled to have their dossier reviewed at annual Administrative Review Board hearings. The Administrative Review Boards weren't authorized to review whether a detainee qualified for POW status, and they weren't authorized to review whether a detainee should have been classified as an "enemy combatant". They were authorized to consider whether a detainee should continue to be detained by the United States, because they continued to pose a threat—or whether they could safely be repatriated to the custody of their home country, or whether they could be set free. First annual Administrative Review Board A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Ahmed Bin Saleh Bel Bacha's first annual Administrative Review Board, on 29 March 2005. The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention. The following primary factors favor continued detention The following primary factors favor release or transfer Transcript A two page summarized transcript from the unclassified session of this hearing was published. Second annual Administrative Review Board A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Ahmed Bin Saleh Bel Bacha's Administrative Review Board, on 7 March 2006. The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention. Habeas corpus petition A writ of habeas corpus was filed on Ahmed Bel Bacha's behalf. Military Commissions Act The Military Commissions Act of 2006 mandated that Guantanamo captives were no longer entitled to access the US civil justice system, so all outstanding habeas corpus petitions were stayed. mirror Boumediene v. Bush On June 12, 2008 the United States Supreme Court ruled, in Boumediene v. Bush, that the Military Commissions Act could not remove the right for Guantanamo captives to access the US Federal Court system. And all previous Guantanamo captives' habeas petitions were eligible to be re-instated. The judges considering the captives' habeas petitions would be considering whether the evidence used to compile the allegations the men and boys were enemy combatants justified a classification of "enemy combatant". mirror Protective order On 15 July 2008 Kristine A. Huskey filed a "NOTICE OF PETITIONERS’ REQUEST FOR 30-DAYS NOTICE OF TRANSFER" on behalf of several dozen captives including Bel Bacha. mirror Delayed repatriation In July 2007 US District Court Judge Rosemary Collyer turned down an "emergency motion" to repatriate Bel Bacha to Algeria. Zachary Katznelson Bel Bacha's lawyer, asserted that the USA could not trust any assurances from the Algerian government that they would not subject him to cruel or inhumane treatment. Katznelson stated that Bel Bacha was unjustly accused. On April 5, 2010, another emergency order requesting a stay of repatriation was filed. References External links *Ahmed Belbacha at Reprieve *Ahmed Belbacha - Case history at Reprieve *Six detainees would rather stay at Guantanamo Bay than be returned to Algeria Washington Post July 10, 2010 *Urgent appeal for the UK to offer refuge to Ahmed Belbacha, an Algerian in Guantánamo Andy Worthington April 21, 2010 *Take Action for Ahmed Belbacha, at Risk of Enforced Repatriation from Guantánamo to Algeria Andy Worthington August 3, 2010 *Cameron urged to help Guantanamo detainee Belbacha August 19, 2010 Category:1969 births Category:Living people Category:People held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp Category:Algerian extrajudicial prisoners of the United States Category:People from Algiers